Thoughts on the road to common ground

About

It was as though decades of tributaries of all my life’s experiences had flowed into a deep reservoir that churned as it filled. That morning, the dam burst.

I started writing before dawn on the morning of November 9th. And writing. And editing. And writing more. About where America might be headed — as individuals as well as a country. About how we choose to live in community. How we choose to regard each other. How we talk (or don’t) and listen (or really don’t) to each other. What the price of those choices has been. And what other choices we might make moving forward.

It wasn’t enough to just email to family and a few friends. I wanted to connect with, and hear from, a lot more people. More importantly, I wanted to be in conversation with people I’d never met, as well as friends, across the political spectrum.

In all those conversations, emotions ran high: in joy, concern, or most often a mix. I wanted to foster connection with, not overwhelm, people I cared about and others I hoped to meet.

At first, I thought, okay, this is an unusual event. I’ll write a couple of pages in my journal, maybe have a few sad days, and move on.

But two days later I found myself suddenly in tears talking to an equally distressed perfect stranger about the election in the Dunkin’ Donuts at DCA on my way out of the country. Okay, so this is NOT over, I thought. This is new.

As the days wore on, I discovered a torrent of thoughts, and a flood of questions. More curiously, the flow of ideas and questions didn’t slow down. It picked up speed, volume and force. I feared that people would unfollow, not follow, if I kept posting long philosophical essays on Facebook, but I didn’t want to stop writing.

Rather than seal up the dam, I decided to just harness the flow and find out what kind of light and warmth might come from sharing the power of the ideas.

I asked those who were still reading my stuff after a few weeks whether they’d follow my blog if I launched one. Over fifty of you said yes. To you, I say thank you.

Welcome. Please read, comment, and share.

(Oh, yeah: and while this blog got launched in the wake of the 2016 election, it’s going to wander into a lot of other things I care about. So watch this space!)